The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange dropped on Wednesday, following the month-end push on Tuesday and ended with an 81 percent plunge in the volume of stocks traded, with a 77 percent lower value than on Tuesday after trading in 43 securities compared with 45 on the prior day and ending with prices of 20 rising, 15 declining and eight closing unchanged.
The market closed with an exchange of 4,063,270 shares for $8,160,284 compared with 20,940,690 units at $35,353,286 on Tuesday.
Trading averaged 94,495 shares at $189,774 compared to 465,349 units at $785,629 on Tuesday compared to April with an average of 204,118 units at $439,599.
Fosrich was the lead trade with 769,267 shares for 18.9 percent of total volume followed by ONE on ONE Educational that ended with 670,243 units for 16.5 percent of the day’s trade and Caribbean Assurance Brokers with 597,643 units for 14.7 percent market share.
At the close of trading, the Junior Market Index dropped 30.45 points to settle at 3,811.24.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 12.8, based on last traded prices in conjunction with earnings projected by ICInsider.com for the financial years ending around August 2025.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial dropped $2.14 to end at $19.81, with an exchange of 10 shares, AMG Packaging climbed 50 cents and ended at $3.90 with a transfer of 56,726 stocks, Blue Power rose 29 cents to $3.19 with 2,856 shares crossing the market. CAC 2000 fell 65 cents to end at $3.84 with an exchange of 250 stock units, Dolphin Cove rallied 95 cents in closing at $19.95 after 979 shares passed through the market, Fontana popped 7 cents to close at $8.98 with investors swapping 20,168 stock units. Future Energy skidded 13 cents to close at $3.45 with 33,639 units clearing the market, Jamaican Teas gained 10 cents to close at $2.60 as investors traded 104,886 stocks, KLE Group advanced 17 cents to finish at $2.34 in trading 1,865 units. Main Event lost 76 cents after ending at $13.02, with 957 shares crossing the exchange, Medical Disposables gained 8 cents to end at $2.28, with 463 stock units changing hands, MFS Capital Partners climbed 5 cents in closing at $1.40 in an exchange of 3,977 stocks and Paramount Trading slipped 19 cents to $1.31 with investors trading 2,000 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading drops on JSE USD Market to close April
The Jamaica Stock Exchange US Dollar market ended on Tuesday, with the volume of stocks traded declining 28 percent with a 59 percent lower value than on Monday, resulting in trading in nine securities, compared to six on Monday with prices of three rising, two declining and four ending unchanged.
The market closed with an exchange of 82,573 shares for US$14,855 compared to 113,936 units at US$36,355 on Monday.
Trading averaged 9,175 units at US$1,651 versus 18,989 shares for US$6,059 on Monday, with the month to date averaging 35,401 shares at US$2,453 compared with 36,886 units at US$2,499 on the previous day and March that ended with an average of 49,394 units for US$3,593.
The US Denominated Equities Index increased 3.25 points to 240.86.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 9.5. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending and or around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, AS Bryden remained at 22.49 US cents with 40,016 shares crossing the exchange, Margaritaville ended at 10 US cents with 1,400 units changing hands, Proven Investments lost 0.67 of one cent to end at 14 US cents with investors trading 1,021 shares. Sterling Investments popped 0.1 of a cent in closing at 1.6 US cents after an exchange of 8,000 stocks, Sygnus Credit Investments popped 0.5 of one cent in ending at 8 US cents with investors trading 21,605 shares and Transjamaican Highway gained 0.12 of a cent to finish at 2.15 US cents, with 10,194 stock units crossing the market.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 5.75% ended at US$2 with traders dealing in 24 units, Productive Business Solutions 9.25% preference share declined 16 cents to end at US$11.05 after a transfer of 300 stocks and Sygnus Credit Investments E8.5% ended at US$10.20 with investors swapping 13 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Caribbean Cement blockbuster Q1 profits
Caribbean Cement reported blockbuster profits in the first quarter to March this year from an increase of nearly 12 percent in revenues of $7.6 billion versus $6.8 billion in 2023 with profits jumping by 546 percent to $1.9 billion compared to just $289 million in last year first quarter.
Helping with the surge in profits was a sharp drop in the cost of sales from $5.5 billion to just $4 billion in the current quarter as the cost of raw materials fell sharply in the first quarter from $1.3 billion to $505 million.
Total operating expenses remained fairly stable at $673 million in 2024 versus $670 million last year with other operating expenses coming out at $311 million compared with $319 million in the previous year. Taxation jumped to $701 million versus a tax credit of $133 million last year.
Earnings per share ended at $2.27 for the quarter, up sharply from just 34 cents in the 2023 first quarter with full year’s earnings likely to exceed $8 per share.
The company generated $2.2 billion in cash inflows, bringing first quarter balance to $6.3 billion.
Shareholders’ equity climbed to $26 billion from $20 billion at the end of March 2023 and there is just a small amount of long term debt on the books.
Caribbean Cement stock is trading currently around $58 at a PE of just over 7 times this year’s earnings compared with an average of 13 for the Main Market. The company reported that the 30 percent expansion is expected to be completed in 2025. That will allowed for increased sales on the local and the overseas markets and making the stock an attractive investment for the immediate future and longer term.
No gains for JSE USD stocks
Stocks fell in trading on Monday with none rising and resulted in slippage in the Jamaican Stock Exchange US dollar market, with the volume of stocks exchanged dropping 23 percent after 70 percent more US dollars changed hands compared with Friday, resulting in trading in six securities, compared to eight on Friday with prices of none rising, three declining and three ending unchanged.
The market closed with an exchange of 113,936 shares for US$36,355 compared to 147,586 units at US$21,362 on Friday.
Trading averaged 18,989 units at US$6,059 versus 18,448 shares at US$2,670 on Friday, with a month to date average of 36,886 shares at US$2,499 compared with 37,587 units at US$2,359 on the previous day and March that ended with an average of 49,394 units for US$3,593.
The US Denominated Equities Index lost 0.27 points to close trading at 237.61.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 9.3. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending and or around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close, AS Bryden ended at 22.49 US cents after exchanging 20,486 stock units, Sterling Investments dipped 0.1 of a cent to 1.5 US cents with 9,455 shares clearing the market, Sygnus Credit Investments lost 1.29 cents to end at 7.5 US cents with an exchange of 76,267 units. Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share dropped 0.2 of a cent in closing at 8.8 US cents, with 224 stocks crossing the market and Transjamaican Highway ended at 2.03 US cents in an exchange of 5,050 units.
In the preference segment, Sygnus Credit Investments E8.5% remained at US$10.20 with investors trading 2,454 stocks.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.